Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs Recipe
Jan 15, 2018, Updated May 01, 2021
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Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs are sweet, savory, tender and juicy chicken thighs prepared with the most amazing honey garlic sauce and cooked in an Instant Pot. Dinner, from start to finish, will be ready in 30 minutes!
My #1 recipe for Honey Garlic Chicken revisited AND updated with a new twist because, an Instant Pot is all the rage these days.
I know, it’s so hard to choose; crock pot honey garlic chicken or instant pot honey garlic chicken. I mean, one takes hours of cooking, and the other makes it all in minutes. But the instant pot is possibly my new favorite way to cook. I do really love my crock pot, but this pressure cooker/instant pot thingamajig is a game-changer. Or are you more into boneless skinless chicken thigh recipes?
INSTANT POT HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN
This easy recipe for honey garlic chicken thighs is packed with so much flavor and requires very little effort. With just a handful of ingredients, this dish continues to be one of my go-to’s because it’s low maintenance and it’s fall-off-the-bone amazing.
Clearly, I’m not talking about just any old chicken here. I’m referring to that special kind of garlic chicken that finds the perfect balance between sweet and savory, tender and juicy, similar to how the best bourbon chicken recipe masters that blend. Also, it can be made in about 20 minutes and that just makes my heart sing for joy! What’s more is that I always make extra so that I have at least some leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.
Gosh… There is not one single thing I don’t love about this type of food.
HOW TO MAKE HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN IN THE INSTANT POT
Prepare the sauce – it will have you licking your fingers clean.
Honey Garlic Sauce
- honey
- garlic
- ketchup
- soy sauce
- oregano
- and parsley
No big deal – just a few ingredients you probably have sitting around. But once you put them all together? GIRRRL!! You’ll see. There’s nah.thing better.
Once you’ve prepared the sauce, you can move onto browning the chicken thighs right inside your instant pot. One pot = one meal, and less dishes to wash.
I chose to use bone-in chicken thighs thus could only fit 4 at a time inside my instant pot, but if you go with boneless thighs, you can definitely get 6 to 8 thighs in there at once.
And once them thighs are done browning-up, an introduction to their cooking liquid will follow:
If chicken breasts are all you’ve got, not to worry! Just use the same method, but cook on poultry setting for 10 minutes.
Whether you want to make this in the crock pot, as we have done up until now, or in the Instant Pot, trust me when I say that no matter what route you take, in the end you’ll just be super glad that you prepared it.
I also have a seafood option with the same wonderful flavors – Honey Garlic Sauce Salmon.
The flavors in this dish are so simple, yet when combined, they are SO GOOD and out-of-this-world fantastic. It’s one of those recipes that you make once, and then you make twice, and then suddenly you can’t wait to make it again.
WANT MORE DELICIOUS CHICKEN RECIPES?
- Spicy, Sweet and Sticky Chicken Thighs
- Crock Pot Citrus Soy Chicken Drumsticks
- Crock Pot Honey Lemon Chicken
ENJOY!
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WATCH HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN
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Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup honey
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce, (see notes for alternatives)
- 1/2 cup no salt ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
- 4 to 6 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
- salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
- sliced green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl combine honey, minced garlic, soy sauce, ketchup, oregano and parsley; mix until well combined and set aside.
- Heat the Instant Pot in sauté mode. Add sesame oil to the pot.Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper; arrange in the instant pot and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Add the prepared honey garlic sauce to the pot; cover and lock the lid.
- Cook in poultry mode for 20 minutes.Turn off the pot and allow it to release the pressure, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer chicken to a serving plate and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and green onions. Serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
I made this exactly as directed and it turned out well, to great compliments from all. The sauce left in the pot was thin and runny, not at all like in the photo. I used only a few tbsp on the meat tray and the rest went down the drain. If I’d been less rushed, I’d have heated it stovetop and thickened it with cornstarch, as others have suggested. The green onion/sesame seed garnish just dresses it all up; not essential but sure makes it appetizing!
Sauce is running, however, what we did was after we removed the thighs is turned IP to saute and added cornstarch…came out perfect
Thanks Bruce for this tip.
Made this as directed (except I didn’t have no salt ketchup or low sodium soy sauce, so used the normal stuff I had on hand) and it came out amazing! The chicken just fell off the bones.
I am on weight watchers and was trying to figure out points without adding the extra sauce that was left in the pot. I measured about a cup and 1/4 of sauce that went down the drain….I know the chicken would have added some liquid so hard to figure it out. I guess I should just enjoy that I had an amazing dinner! If anyone has an idea, I’d be happy to hear. I logged the 2 thighs that I ate and then 3 points for the sauce…such a guessing game sometimes.
Thanks again for the great recipe!
So grateful to have another excellent instant pot dish in my arsenal – THANK YOU! Wowing the in-laws with said dish – PRICELESS. You saved me tonight! LOL
WOOOOT!! Always a SUCCESS when the in-laws are involved! haha 😀 SO happy you all enjoyed it!
Can this be made with a whole chicken?
I don’t see why not.
Hi everyone! I made this tonight! It was great! I do have one question! For weight watchers, I had half of a chicken breast! How many points would that be including the sauce? Thanks so much!
7 points
this was my first instant pot attempt… came out pretty good! I don’t have a poultry setting and had boneless thighs. I did 13 minutes on meat/stew and it was cooked perfectly. Served in bowls over rice and used some cornstarch to thicken the sauce a bit. It was a hit!
I made this tonight with 5 chicken thighs. I thought it was really good. The sauce could have maybe been a little thicker but I thought it was really tasty. I cooked it on the meat/stew setting for 10minutes and it came out perfect. Will definitely keep this recipe.
Made this tonight, following the recipe exactly except I threw in one boneless breast for my wife who dislikes dark meat, and I didn’t use low sodium soy sauce or ketchup. I regret that I didn’t follow the low salt recommendation because it turned out a little saltier than desired, though tolerable. I’m just cheap and already had regular soy sauce and ketchup. Everybody loved it. I served it in bowls over white rice and drizzled some sauce over the meat and rice before garnishing with the onions and toasted sesame seeds. Next time I think I’ll strain the sauce then thicken it with a little cornstarch slurry before drizzling. I’m also considering putting the garlic in the oil immediately after browning the chicken and giving it a little sear before adding the sauce and meat back into the cooker. Of course, those extra steps add prep time which sort of offsets some of the benefits of using the pressure cooker and the simplicity of the recipe.
Did you make the rice in a separate pot or did you do it all in the instant pot? If you did it all in one, how did you do it?
Great recipe. First dinner ever made in my Instant Pot! It was delish and I would make it again. Thanks for sharing.
I love the combination of flavors!